In This Article
Subscribe to National Updates
Aging Baby Boomers Face Uncertain Future
March 15, 2008 09:25 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A recent study revealed that one-third of Americans aged 50 and older are unsure whether they will have enough money to retire.
30-Second Summary
The study, based on a poll of roughly 2,000 working Americans, also found that two-thirds of respondents “expect to keep working well into old age,” Reuters reports.
And despite the number of employers offering 401(k) retirement plans, 61 percent of those surveyed believe that Social Security benefits will be their primary source of income during their golden years.
Unfortunately for them, the money to provide full Social Security coverage for eligible recipients is expected to run out in 2040, says the AARP. At that point, retirees are expected to get 74 percent of what they would have previously expected.
Blog Blackadder’s Lair writes that this shouldn’t worry today’s 20-somethings, as payouts “would be about 40 percent more in real terms than the benefits seniors currently receive, due to the fact that benefits are indexed to wages rather than prices.”
But the Campaign for America’s Future is less sanguine about the future of the nation’s retirement funds, writing that Social Security “will be designed not to keep up with inflation.”
And despite the number of employers offering 401(k) retirement plans, 61 percent of those surveyed believe that Social Security benefits will be their primary source of income during their golden years.
Unfortunately for them, the money to provide full Social Security coverage for eligible recipients is expected to run out in 2040, says the AARP. At that point, retirees are expected to get 74 percent of what they would have previously expected.
Blog Blackadder’s Lair writes that this shouldn’t worry today’s 20-somethings, as payouts “would be about 40 percent more in real terms than the benefits seniors currently receive, due to the fact that benefits are indexed to wages rather than prices.”
But the Campaign for America’s Future is less sanguine about the future of the nation’s retirement funds, writing that Social Security “will be designed not to keep up with inflation.”
Headline Link: ‘Aging Americans Unsure They Can Afford to Retire’
In the research published by retirement services firm SecurePath by Transamerica, more than two-thirds of the 2,015 working Americans polled reported that they expected to have to work into old age. "Seven in 10 workers aged 50 and older have already faced a period of financial difficulty that shook their confidence and created stress," read the study. Yet, Social Security was considered by 61 percent to be a reliable source of retirement income, which shows confidence in government institutions.
Source: Reuters
Background: The aging baby boomers and Social Security
Skeptical about the future of Social Security
Dana Milbank, a columnist for The Washington Post, writes, “As the boomers retire, Social Security will go into the red in 2017 and become insolvent 24 years later, according to the system’s trustees.” He quotes an exchange between Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue and Rebecca Cooper, reporter for Washington, D.C., television station WJLA. Cooper questions the steps the federal government has taken to preserve the nation’s public pension fund.
Source: The Washington Post
Social Security can survive
Social Security will survive if the government makes “minor financial adjustments,” says the AARP. The Social Security’s treasury will remain flush through 2017. The fund has so far earned some $900 billion in interest, from which the rest of the federal government borrows $150 billion a year. In 2040, Social Security coffers are due to run out. Annual revenue from taxes would meet 74 percent of the subsequent shortfall. Raising the ceiling of income subject to Social Security contributions is one possible way to keep benefits in the black.
Source: AARP
Opinion: The security of Social Security
Political action group Campaign for America’s Future decries John McCain’s proposal to privatize Social Security: “Under McCain, you’ll have to work longer before you retire and get a smaller benefit when you do. Your check will be designed not to keep up with inflation, as Social Security does now, so that as you age, you will continue to fall behind as expenses rise.”
Source: Campaign on America’s Future
Blog Blackadder’s Lair writes that under recent projections, Social Security payouts that would be received in 2042 “would be about 40 percent more in real terms than the benefits seniors currently receive, due to the fact that benefits are indexed to wages rather than prices.”
Source: Blackadder’s Lair
To save Social Security, Richard Noble, author of the blog The Hobo Philosopher, suggests that America enter no more wars for the next decade. “Skip a war here and there in our future and we will have more than enough to fund Social Security and numerous other seemingly impossible benefits.”
Source: The Hobo Philosopher
Reference: Finding higher financial ground
FindingDulcinea’s guide to retirement planning provides the best online resources for understanding, planning and managing the best retirement plan possible.
Source: findingDulcinea
Robert Brokamp, author of several how-to guides on investing, offers readers a five-pronged plan on preparing for retirement. He warns that as of 2004, the average annual Social Security payout was $11,000—not enough to get by in the United States. Compared to the previous generation, “You will live longer, and you’ll have a more active (read: expensive) lifestyle. Your parents may have survived on 70 percent of their pre-retirement income. But that’s probably not enough for you."
Source: The Motley Fool
The AARP’s Web site includes information on retirement planning, a guide to health care for aging adults and advice on family issues, dealing with subjects such as grandparents going back to work.
Source: AARP
Related Topics: America braces for retirement
An assisted living facility in the western New York town of Newark was once a middle school. Much of the town’s workforce is retiring—or will do so in the near future—leaving an aging population to rely on a dwindling force of medical caregivers.
Source: findingDulcinea
The Supreme Court ruled in February that employees can sue employers who mismanage their 401(k) retirement plans. But some think the decision has loopholes.
Source: findingDulcinea
On Feb. 28, Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael J. Astrue told the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee that even with a bigger budget, it would still take five years to sort through the build up of requests for disability benefits.
Source: Congressional Quarterly
© 2010 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
